The present invention relates to a pillow for the hard of hearing and, more particularly, to a pillow having holes that form channels going through the entire thickness of the pillow.
Hearing impaired individuals obviously endure the trials and tribulations of daily life with more difficulty than do people with better hearing. With exception of hearing aids, not many products are available that are designed specifically for those who are hard of hearing. These groups of people face challenges in their daily life due to numerous low sound level and/or cacophonous circumstances. In addition to people who are hearing impaired in both ears, many individuals are hard of hearing in only one ear. Since many of these people do not wear any type of hearing aid, they are limited to hearing accurately from only one ear.
A major problem for people who are hard of hearing in one ear occurs when they use pillows. In particular, when a person lies on his or her side with the less functional ear faced upward, the properly functioning ear is in contact with the pillow. Due to the seal the good ear makes with the pillow or pillowcase, air is not able to carry sound waves to that ear. In this position, the person has difficulty hearing at all because the less functional ear is exposed to sound waves that it cannot hear, while the ear that functions properly is not exposed to sound waves.
Even people with no hearing handicap can benefit from using both of their ears. This invention, therefore, is not limited to the hard of hearing, as any person can use and gain a hearing advantage from the inventive pillow. The use of the term xe2x80x9chard of hearingxe2x80x9d is intended herein to mean both individuals who are in fact hard of hearing, and those who have no hearing handicap.
There are numerous circumstances where lack of hearing while lying down can inconvenience the person or cause serious and dangerous problems. Oftentimes, for example, only one side of the head is placed on a pillow while watching television or listening to music from a bed or a couch. This situation requires the hard of hearing individual to sacrifice either comfort, or the ability to hear the television program or musical piece.
Another instance when a hard of hearing person can experience difficulty hearing while lying down occurs when a telephone rings. Most hearing-impaired individuals have telephones that alert the person being called by producing a sound and not by visual means. This can cause hard of hearing people not to know when their telephone is ringing, and thus miss a phone call.
A more serious and potential dangerous problem occurs while a hard of hearing person is lying down and a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm sounds. Even the high-pitched sound of a smoke alarm can go unheard by someone whose properly functioning ear is flush against a pillow or pillowcase. The sound waves that are produced by the alarm travel through the air and are received by the ear, if the ear is functioning properly. When someone is hard of hearing, of course, the sound may not be heard. The purpose of any audible alarm is lost when the sound it produces cannot be heard by the people that it is attempting to alert.
It is also extremely common for all types of individuals to set an alarm clock in order to wake themselves. People are generally not concerned about the orientation in which they sleep because, almost without fail, their alarm clock wakes them up at a pre selected time. Their ability to hear the alarm clock thus enables them to awaken. Waking up to the sound of an alarm clock is often a difficult task to ask of hard of hearing people. For these people to be able to hear their alarm clocks, they must sleep with their properly functioning ear upward, while their low functioning ear faces the opposite horizontal direction (sleeping on their stomach or back), or in contact with the pillow (sleeping on their side).
As aforementioned, even those with so-called normal hearing in both ears are reduced to hearing sounds received by only one ear when the other is covered. Thus, there would be an advantage to all people to hear with both ears when reclining on a pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,380, issued to Shame on Dec. 28, 1999 for ADJUSTABLE CERVICAL PILLOW WITH DEPRESSIONS FOR A USER""S EAR, discloses an adjustable cervical pillow, with beautification properties, for supporting the head and neck of a person. An upper portion includes a central depression for accepting the back or side of the person""s head, and a plurality of depressions for accepting the person""s ear during use. The depressions for accepting an ear are disposed only in the upper portion, and do not penetrate the lower portion of the pillow.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,448, issued to Body on Dec. 15, 1998 for PILLOW WITH CUTOUTS ADAPTED TO ACCOMMODATE THE EAR, NOSE, AND CHEEK OF A USER, a pillow that does not promote facial wrinkling or earaches has cutouts or wells positioned and shaped for receiving the facial tissue of a user so as to prevent wrinkles to the facial tissue. One cutout is designed to accept the ear of a person, another cutout is for accepting the nose and cheek, while another cutout is designed to receive the back of the user""s head.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,350, issued to Gold stein on May 15, 2001 for HEAD SUPPORT PAD WITH AIR ACCESS CONDUIT, discloses a pillow for supporting the head in a face down position. A recess or wall provides a breathing void and at least one air flow conduit extends from the void to the ambient air. The recess and air flow conduits in the pillow provide air to the user to aid in breathing, while only the conduits extend through the pillow to supply the air. The recess does not extend entirely through the pillow.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pillow with at least one hole for accepting a user""s ear. The holes in the pillow extend through the entire thickness of the pillow with openings on both major surfaces thereof. The pillow can be filled using conventional pillow filling, or it can be an inflatable pillow with air used as the filler.
The present invention also provides a pillowcase that fits over the inventive pillow. While a typical pillowcase can also be used, the effectiveness of the pillow will be sacrificed. Thus, the pillowcase of the invention can have either an opening, or an opening filled with a type of mesh material that aligns with to the holes in the pillow. The pillowcase can also be made entirely of a mesh material.
When in use, the user places his or her ear over the opening of the pillowcase or over the hole in the pillow. While in this embodiment, an opening is adjacent to the user""s ear that is filled with air. Since the pillow and pillowcase do not form a perfect seal with the top of the bed or sheet, no vacuum is formed; thus, air is capable of travelling into the hole in the pillow. The air within the pillow provides a means for sound waves to travel from their source to the user""s ear. Therefore, the hard of hearing user can relax with either ear, either the normally functioning ear or the lower functioning ear, over the hole in the pillow or the opening in the pillowcase and still be able to watch television and hear a phone ringing.
To increase the effectiveness of the inventive pillow, the user can place his or her arm under the pillow, creating a gap between the pillow and the couch or bedding. This embodiment produces a large area of air for sound waves to freely flow through the hole in the pillow and to the user""s ear.
The inventive pillow can also be used in order to relieve pressure from a user""s ear while the person reclines. People who have undergone ear surgery are often limited to the orientation in which they lie because they do not want to put pressure on their ear. The inventive pillow allows them to lay comfortably on their side with their ear in the pillow""s hole. People wearing hearing aids or earrings also reap similar benefits from using the inventive pillow. Since no additional pressure is put on their ear, the user of the inventive pillow does not experience the pain that would typically be felt using a standard pillow.
It is an object of this invention to provide a pillow that a person can use while still being able to hear from the ear in contact with the pillow.
It is another object of this invention to provide a pillow for a person without the use of an alternate mechanical and/or electrical device to enhance hearing.
It is another object of this invention to provide a pillow for a person who desires to have less pressure on their ear.
It is another object of this invention to provide a pillowcase containing holes or mesh that can be placed over the pillow, allowing air to pass through the pillowcase into the hole in the pillow.